Hibernian manager, Lee Johnson, has given his post-match thoughts after Celtic bulldozed over Hibs to take all three points.
Celtic’s spectacular performance at Easter Road saw the Hoops put four into David Marshall’s net while keeping a clean sheet. Although Hibs had a strong start by pressuring Celtic and forcing a few corners, they were ultimately overpowered by the sheer class of the Celtic squad. Johnson admits that there was a clear quality difference between the two sides as he evaluates the performance of his side.
Having said that, Johnson believes that Hibernian’s performance was an improvement compared to their previous performance against Celtic in Paradise, which resulted in an embarrassing 6-1 defeat for Hibs. Johnson suggests that Hibs let Celtic take control, which caused them to ultimately lose out on any points.
As reported by the Edinburgh Evening News, Johnson outlined his post-match thoughts and gave Celtic the praise that their performance was due.
“I didn’t want to lose the game; I thought we improved on our last performance against Celtic. We started the game well. I suppose the criticism was that we allowed them, with their quality, to start to control the game too much. We still had counter-attacks and I think we were a bit unlucky going in 2-0 down at half-time.
“I’m not denying there’s a gulf in class, and we are very early in a journey where we are trying to bridge the gap with the top teams (in Scotland). I thought there were signs of improvement after a 4-0 win and a decent first half against (the)Rangers, and now the derby becomes really important to us because we know the magnitude of the game but also that the points can get us where we want to be.”
Johnson gives credit to the Celtic players for their immense quality on the field, claiming that they have been one of the best teams he has ever come across, including most premier league teams bar Manchester City. The Hibs gaffer continued:
“Celtic are a top team. I’ve managed against English Premier League teams and Celtic are maybe one of the best sides, bar Manchester City, that I’ve come across. Celtic have obviously got a challenge in trying to bridge the gap to the ‘super elite’ teams in the Champions League but at the moment they are way above anything else in the Scottish Premiership in my opinion.”
“Sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up and say they’re a better side. Do we like saying that? No. Did we want to apply more pressure than we did? Of course. But Celtic do that to everybody. What you can’t do is switch off. It’s a relentless pressure, both psychologically and physically. We’ve got to take the good bits of the performance and the good bits from the Livingston win into the derby.”
